I’m Going to Write a Novel…And I’m Crazy

Weeks 42–48

I’ve never written a novel, nor am I prepared to write a full length novel right now. But in a week…maybe?

Actually, I’ll probably be just as unprepared then as I am right now — maybe even more so.

But that’s one of the main reasons why I’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) next month. That and I’m crazy.

Let’s forget the crazy part and focus on the unprepared part for a moment.

I’ve always been something of an unprepared writer. Given the choice, I usually choose to write by the seat of my pants. If you’re one of the few but fortunate people who follow my stories on Medium, you know that I try to write a single short story each and every day. Most days, I haven’t the foggiest idea what I’m going to write about until I sit down and write it. And most of those stories, truth be told, ain’t so good. But I still like writing that way — and I think that writing a novel that way is probably impossible (or close to it).

I just dread outlining…and researching…and all that things that you need to do, of course, if you want to write something good. With short stories, though, I can shirk those responsibilities consistently and come up with a good story every so often, a percentage I’m perfectly fine with. I can have one interesting character doing one interesting thing in a satisfyingly interesting vignette. It’s a small enough idea that it works. I can write it in one shot.

Here’s the problem: I have some big ideas, too — ideas that demand more than 500–1,000 words. Which means I need to rethink my writing strategy and start preparing.

I don’t know if you’ve checked the calendar recently, but it’s October 24th. Time is flying by. I’ve lightened the requirements on my “one story a day” policy this month in order to give me time to start ideating and outlining a novel. So what have I got to show for my 24 days of hard work? I don’t dare show you, but rest assured that what you’ve read thus far of this article has a much higher word count than my current outline. And I’m also considering switching to an entirely new idea, which will of course require a new outline altogether.

This is nuts.

But that’s the point. Lots of things seem crazy until you give it a shot.

I used to wonder how people who ate glass learned to eat glass without killing themselves in the process. NaNoWriMo 2016 is my “Eating Glass 101.” Will I make it out alive? Absolutely. I just hope I can say the same thing about my first novel.